A/N: Woohoo, new chapter! I might actually finish this one in less than a year. I've been trying to work on this one while also finishing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which I figured I might want to finish before the next book comes out. slaps herself with wet noodle Bad Lizzie! Bad! You procrastinator! But, alas, I have done no work whatsoever on The Alone. Maybe I ought to finish this one first… Oh, well, on to Chapter 3!

Just in case somebody missed the disclaimer in the first chapter: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, I do not make any profit from this, blah blah blah…

In Memories Forgotten

Chapter 3

Yugi ended up spending much of the day in the library, exploring different books and trying to tune the dusty piano, which was refusing to cooperate. At one point he had searched for a clock to see how much time had passed, but the grandfather clock out in the hall looked as if it had stopped working years ago. Since none of the windows were open, and since Yami had specified that he wasn't to open any of them, it was impossible to tell the time of day. Yugi wondered often where Yami was, but wasn't sure if he should go looking for him or wait for Yami to summon him.

After several hours that Yugi wasn't able to count, he felt himself getting hungry again. The kegawa suddenly got very excited, and several of them skittered off through cracks in the walls and under the doors. A few of them bounded towards the door and stopped, looking back at Yugi expectantly.

Yugi followed the creatures out of the library, across the main hall, and through another pair of doors. Yugi's mouth dropped open slightly as he gazed into the dim room. Along one side of the room were several china cabinets filled with dust-covered dishes, glassware, and cutlery, and the other side contained an enormous fireplace. Oddly enough, the fireplace was not lit, but several candelabra stood on the mantel, their tiny flames flickering and dancing. Down the center of the long room was an enormous heavy wood table that stretched down to the other end of the room, and was laden with even more candles. At the end of the table closest to Yugi was an ornately carved wooden chair, and on the table a steaming plate of food. His stomach rumbling, Yugi went to sit down, then noticed a dark figure standing at the other end of the table.

Yami moved forward into the dim light of the candles, but would not, Yugi suddenly noticed, come very close to the fireplace mantel or the candles on the table. Yugi froze, suddenly not quite sure what to do in Yami's presence.

"Go on," Yami said, his quiet voice startling Yugi. "Eat."

Yugi sat down slowly, his eyes still on Yami, and then the smell of the food reminded him of his hunger. As he ate, he could feel Yami's eyes on him, and that was making him nervous. Halfway through his meal, Yugi glanced over at Yami, and the crimson eyes were still staring at him.

"A-Aren't you going to eat?" Yugi asked, trying to keep his voice at a normal tone. Yami tilted his head to one side, a mildly amused expression on his face.

"No. I don't need to eat."

Yugi frowned. "What do you mean? Don't you get hungry at all?"

Yami shrugged. "I don't know the feeling. I never have. I don't need food like humans do, and I can't say that I've ever understood why you have such a need for it."

Yugi blurted out the next question that popped into his mind before he could stop himself, "Well, if you're not human, then what are you?"

Yami only stared back at Yugi for several moments, and Yugi was about to stammer an apology for asking such a question when Yami spoke.

"I'm a nightwalker," he said simply. At Yugi's blank expression, he went on, "Nightwalkers are creatures that are deathless unless exposed to sunlight. There are very few others like me, and we're not particularly exciting, but for some reason you humans delight in making up stories about us. For instance, the sucking of blood and turning into wolf-like monsters under a full moon. All utter nonsense."

Yugi looked down at his plate, suddenly not very hungry anymore. He remembered the stories that were told in his village that warned children away from the forest, and he had never really been sure if he believed them or not. Emboldened by the strength of his curiosity, Yugi asked, "How did you become a nightwalker?"

Yami snorted. "You don't become a nightwalker. I've always been one."

"So you were born one?" Yugi said, and Yami paused. His eyes stared at a fixed point on the floor for several moments, and then he abruptly turned and walked out of the dining room.

"That's enough questions," he said coldly as he left, the door behind him slamming so hard that the dishes in the china cabinets rattled. Yugi remained sitting, feeling confused and hurt. Had he said something to offend Yami? A few of the kegawa crawled up the legs of the chair and nestled themselves in Yugi's lap. Yugi smiled down at them, glad that he had someone to keep him company.

"Shall we continue exploring?" he said, his mood brightening. The kegawa purred enthusiastically, and led Yugi out of the dining room and back up the stairs.

Yami sat in the dark seclusion of the eastern turret, glowering at nothing in particular. Yugi's questions had only succeeded in confusing him even more, if that was at all possible, and that only made the dark creature even more irritable.

/So you were born one/ Yugi's innocent question echoed through his mind. For a brief moment, Yami felt sorry that he had reacted so harshly at Yugi's question, but it made him realize that he didn't know how he had become a nightwalker. Was he born one? He had to be, he had no memory of ever being anything besides a nightwalker… but if that was true, then who was he born to? People don't just pop out of thin air in a puff of smoke, so he had to have some kind of a… of a…

Yami's thoughts were silenced as the image of the woman in the green dress appeared in his mind, and then suddenly the image changed. There was a woman in a yellow summer dress standing by a tree… and she was laughing and beckoning to him… Was it the same woman? Yami couldn't quite make out her face…

He brought back the memory of the crying woman to see if they were the same, but he couldn't quite make out her face, either. Then, the picture faded into dark night, and he could see a fire piercing the sky. There were dark figures all around him… they were chanting something that he couldn't quite hear, and he also couldn't make out their faces in the darkness. But, as Yami tried to look closer, he found that he couldn't move. Chains on his arms and legs held him down, and he suddenly felt a surge of an ancient emotion: fear. The chanting stopped, and pain lanced through his body, white-hot and piercing, and his scream echoed through the empty sky…

/You shall never escape/ a dark voice twisted with sadistic pleasure spoke in his mind. /The curse shall always haunt you…/

Yami sat up quickly, his breathing heavy, and he saw the familiar darkness of the eastern turret around him. Had that been a dream? Or was it… another memory? What curse had the voice been talking about? He could still feel an echo of the pain, and as he tried to remember the details of the image the pain only grew.

Frustrated, Yami decided to distract himself by seeing what Yugi was up to. Searching mentally through the house, he found Yugi in the attic. The girl was searching through some of the old trunks that Yami had almost forgotten were there, and had found one full of dresses and hats. Yugi was trying on the hats and modeling for the kegawa, who purred and bounced about. Yugi was laughing, and Yami had to stop himself from smiling at the sound. It was such a nice sound, though…

Then, Yugi pulled a white dress from the trunk. It had flowing, elbow-length sleeves and silver blossoms embroidered on the skirt, and as Yami looked at the dress, he no longer saw the attic nor Yugi.

/Oh, it's beautiful! I love it/ a feminine voice said from somewhere in his mind. Was it the same woman? He could see the white fabric and the silver flowers dancing about, but he couldn't see who was wearing the dress. And, as soon as it had come, the image faded. The pain that had ebbed away increased again, his head feeling as though it was about to split, and after several moments of silent deliberation Yami went decisively to the window.

The daylight was kept from entering by shutters and heavy drapes, and Yami grabbed a hold of the drapes, intent on opening them and flinging open the shutters to face the sunlight that was such a curse to him. He had often thought of doing this and ending what had thus far been a worthless life, and this was finally the time. But, Yami found himself hesitating. Why?

/The girl…/ his thoughts told him. What would happen to the girl if he was gone? Without him in the house, the kegawa would leave, and Yugi wouldn't be able to survive here all by herself.

/She could go back to the town/ another part of his mind argued, but he remembered when he had found Yugi, when the idea of going back to her father had terrified her to tears.

Unable to draw back the curtains and invite the fatal sunlight into the room, Yami turned and stalked away, feeling disgusted with himself, and yet somewhat relieved that something had stopped him. He didn't really know exactly what would happen if sunlight touched him; all he knew was that it would end his life. How it could be more painful than living, Yami didn't know, yet there was still a nagging fear of the unknown of death that remained in his mind. Yami smiled bitterly as he drifted down the staircase; one would think that, after living for so very long, a dark creature such as himself would not have any fear at all.

Yugi's laughter echoed through the house again, and Yami stopped on the stairs, listening to that beautiful sound so foreign to his ears, so inviting and yet he could not will himself to draw any closer to it. He would always fear that which he had never known…

A/N: Okay, I know that was short and sort of boring, but I needed to explain exactly what Yami was. And yes, I am making him be an ass to Yugi, but I'll make up for it. wink wink Reviews are welcomed and appreciated!